Is Umbra classified as Sosarian? It is now!
It is considered bad luck to give a child the same name as a deceased person known to the parents without permission. Umbrians believe that names are sacred and that the ghost of the deceased, offended by their presumption, will return and cause harm to the baby if their name is used lightly. Before naming a baby, the father will go around to everybody he knows and ask if the name has been given before - and, if it has, if he may use it again. (If the person in question was unpleasant or died under particularly traumatic circumstances, the name will be rendered taboo for many years.)
However, if permission is granted, naming a baby after a dead person is an enormous honour. Noble families often politically name their children to endear themselves to their peers; consequently, noble children can end up with a ridiculous number of middle names (the record is sixteen). Nobody is sure why this happens, because nothing can stop Umbrian nobles from killing each other and it doesn't quite seem worth the effort.
High-class Umbrian girls do not cut their hair or their fingernails after marriage. Long, unblemished nails are considered a sign of wealth and opulence, as it means that the woman has never had to do her own work. Some noblewomen of a certain age interweave their floor-length braids with the ribbons of their robes, and pay serving-girls to carry the train, which can reach several metres long, behind them as they walk. The disparaging term "patchwork princess" is a reference to the practice of buying hair from several different girls and interweaving it into one's own, which, when done less than skilfully, results in a motley braid consisting of several different shades of grey; elongating one's hair artificially like this is considered to be rather tacky.
Red is the colour of life, luck, and wealth. It is associated with blood, which is what separates the living Umbrian citizens from the dead, and is considered attractive. Back when Umbra was frequently at war with Luna, soldiers would daub themselves with grey paint to disguise themselves amidst the mindless zombies. They would wear a red article of clothing, a cloak or a scarf or a pair of gloves, to stop their own people from mistakenly using them for meat shields (a primary function of zombies). Umbrian culture is very military, and the red-and-grey colour scheme has become symbolic of fortune and patriotism; red is a popular choice for clothing, especially amongst women, and many citizens daub themselves grey with diluted charcoal solution in a show of solidarity, leading some tourists to believe that Umbrians are naturally grey-skinned.
The white hair is a natural racial feature; some citizens are born dark-haired, but the vast majority go grey by adolescence. (People who do not go grey are treated with suspicion and often accused of being part Lunarian.) After Malas was reconnected with the wider world, hair-dye became popular. Young men and women have developed a complex system of colours with various social meanings, which they refuse to explain to anybody because sixteen-year-old Umbrians are just as secretive and uncommunicative as sixteen-year-olds anywhere else.
Feet are considered the dirtiest part of the body in Umbra, and are very rarely washed because, due to the ever-present fine black dust that blows in from the desert, to do so would be a waste of water. On a lady's wedding day, her mother (or a close female relative) will wash her feet ceremoniously to symbolise her discarding her old baggage and starting afresh, and will paint the soles red with henna for luck.
Edit: Well, that turned out about three times longer than I intended. Sorry about that.